Scientists successfully grow vaginas in a lab and implant them into patients

Women born without vaginas, or those who want sex change can now smile as Scientists have successfully grown vaginas in a laboratory and implanted them into four teenage patients.
The new organs have been given to women born with a rare genetic condition in which the vagina and uterus are underdeveloped or absent. The treatment could also potentially be applied to patients with vaginal cancer or injuries, according to the U.S. researchers.

The researchers, from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, say four teenage girls have successfully received vaginal organs that were engineered with their own cells

 Writing in The Lancet, programme leader by Dr Anthony Atala, said: ...

'This pilot study is the first to demonstrate that vaginal organs can be constructed in the lab and used successfully in humans.This may represent a new option for patients who require vaginal reconstructive surgeries. In addition, this study is one more example of how regenerative medicine strategies can be applied to a variety of tissues and organs.' 

The vaginas were engineered using muscle and epithelial cells (the cells that line the body's cavities) from a small biopsy of each patient's external genitals.The cells were then extracted from the tissues, expanded and then placed on a biodegradable material that was hand-sewn into a vagina-like shape. These scaffolds were tailor-made to fit each patient.

 "Yuanyuan Zhang demonstrates the process where four young women born with abnormal or missing vaginas were implanted with lab-grown versions made from their own cells"

A variety of materials can be used to surgically construct a new vagina – from skin grafts to tissue that lines the abdominal cavity. However, these substitutes often lack a normal muscle layer and some patients can develop a narrowing or contracting of the vagina.
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